"Pika Ichi" is the story of two painfully shy teens who love yakuza movies. An incident at school pushes them over the edge, and they decide to drop their mousiness in order to dispense some "justice."

I really like the plot and the characteristics of the main characters, very unique, it's not like your typical clique shoujo. The story progression towards the end is really interesting and gets you really hype up. However, I personally think that the ending ruins it all.

Spoiler (mouse over to view)

I think that everything isn't well explained, especially the last chapter. It's rather rush and messy. All of the sudden one student "rebelled" and they seem to just ignore his rebellion and brush it off with Hanako's "confession". Then the story suddenly ends with a suggestion of building an university beside the highschool and the gang graduated(?) One can easily see how confused I am through this spoiler haha.

The manga was good for me..although the story sounded so stupid to me..I liked the two main characters..but I hated the ending..it felt like there was no romance...(just a little)and the chapters contents were not interesting at all..

So the series really didn't turn out to be good for some during the first chapters. A lot would say it's not good and the plot line is so out there and the romance is nowhere to go, but when you actually read further, your interest increases although I must agree that the romance is a bit lacking, but since it is centered on a fight for justice, I can live with it. ALTHOUGH I REALLY AM DYING TO SEE WHAT'LL HAPPEN NEXT WITH TAROU AND HANAKO. But over all, it's a great one

Boy did this manga have heart. Sure, the first chapter was slow but once it got into the storyline it was awesome. It was like the Tsukushi Makino that never was--or really the one who never continued to stand up against the bullies at her school. That's what this story was like, two unseen people trying to make a difference in a prestigious school that had lost its way. It was only until it introduced the "bad guy has super problems we can totally solve" that it tumbled. It was a weak plot that should have--if ever--been introduced far later into the storyline where it would have held a bit more weight. How disappointing this turned out to be, but never-the-less its well worth a shot.

I actually really liked it. Its very well done, and though many say the plot sucks, it doesnt. At first you think; "Ahh, here's some villiany dude who wants to destroy things for no reason and the main characters are going to kick his ass". But, and this is a giant but, thats not how it is.

The antagonist, who in my eyes isnt really a villain, has his reasons for what he does. Although he does what he does in terrible ways, he seems like a pretty honest person (behind that cold exterior). The more I read the more I understand that he is just a young boy trying desperatly not to drown in his own emotions. His loneliness and burdens overwhelm him. In the end, I think he just wants to be seen for himself and be free. And the great thing is... The two protags are learning this and they can't continue to regard him in the same way they had. Slowly, they begin to see that they need to help him first. I can't wait for more scans.

Spoiler: You can't help but feel bad for the guy. His own parents force him to wear handcuffs (which nobody notices) so that he can't escape and his mother makes him "relearn" kindergarten. The whole thing is heartbreaking.

It's not a bad series, by any means. But what happened in the case of this manga is that the author began with a semi-ridiculous comedy/parody and transformed it into this whole family/school drama that you can't quite take seriously. And all the characters are cliche no matter how you look at it, so the only redeeming factor of this manga is the humor.

It's a bit fluffy, even for my tastes (with all the talk of "justice" and whatnot), and the all the characters (with the possible exception of Dougen) could use a nice smattering of reality into their faces. Or at least, stop trying to act so serious. The plot, which moves at a relatively rapid pace is one part predictable, two parts ridiculous, one part "dramatic." I'm still not sure whether the manga-ka wants the reader to take the so-called drama seriously, but my hunch is that she does, which is a shame. As a whole, the story is put together quite sloppily with what seems like little thought into one sequence of events before plunging into another, sprinkled with cliches and ridiculous yakuza scenes. The balance of drama and comedy (which is I think what she was going for) is poorly executed at best. One minute we have a snapshot of an obviously power-obsessed, reputation-obsessed, and otherwise creepy overbearing family (that is threatening to literally destroy people) and next we have a ridiculous yakuza scene, complete with all the cheesy dialogue.

I really don't know what to say. The way I read it, and the way I recommend people to read it, is lightly. Take all the drama with a grain of salt and laugh it off, because all the situations are so ridiculous. Give the "aww" scenes a little smile and the parody scenes (that can really not be taken any other way) a little chuckle. You do that and this manga is enjoyable.

It's humor. Badly executed at times, and with more drama than many would appreciate in the genre, but it's funny. I gave it a few chuckles, but I'm pretty sure I was just laughing at the ridiculousness of the entire thing, despite the premise being somewhat, and I use the word liberally, original. The cliches the manga-ka threw in are beginning to stack on top of each other, but at least we have a character that is intended to literally be omniscient, the doctor.

My recommendation, to sum it up, is to read it like a comedy. Fast, with little thought, and when you have time to burn. Laugh at the obviously fabricated amounts of drama (it's way too..... far-fetched (that's a nice word) to be real), and enjoy the admittedly ludicrous (and terrible) plotline. And yes, there are actually is one. But it IS funny.

There's a lot of interesting things about the story that I really like but the story just isn't captivating though. She's cute and he's hot, but their romance isn't moving since this is more about fighting for justice etc, etc....The imagine transformation was good, that's always fun to read about. The female lead is strong and intelligent, also a good thing. Bullying was a factor, so I'll give it some points for that. But even with all these things going for it, I was kind of bored.

is bringing justice all they do? okay...so what happens are Summer Vacation or after they all get rid of the bullying. I just don't get why they couldn't bring this to the media or the superintendent or something?

Simply stated: I do not like it. I gave it a try and it disappointed me through and through. It had promise, but then it had the main female character. She's the naive - will do anything for the bad guy, not matter what he did because there might be some "Sadness!" behind it all - stupidly follows people where they go, without ANY thought - and trying to make the school a better place, by being little miss sweet thing. *sighs* I'm so, so, so, SO tired of those types of characters. The main boy is good, and the side-kick boy is good, but the rest... fail.

Also, just for me to point out. I am, in no way what-so-ever, into angst-y drama.. and that is what this is. Oh, well too each their own.

I've read up to chapter 8, and was expectant with the potential this manga had. The art is very good, and not your everyday sparkly-eyed shoujo. Now the content should be predictable yet interesting, but it suffers the major flaw called flow.. There is an abundance of vagueness that is left unjustified for the plot to continue, like school life per se (specially in this unique school), which must've been well-forged in the early chapters. 2) Logic. The protagonists, though strong and virtues, and even other characters, make complex solutions to simple problems. 3)Unrealistic(getting away with kidnapping and other heinous acts w/out getting into jail!!), well this is manga! Of course, it's fiction, but it should not be absent of laws. Thus, a certain degree of realism should be present. Even the interaction between protagonists and antagonasts are cliche' and their transformation is too sudden that you won't recognize their previous character...